Fast Intra Mode Decision Algorithm for HEVC Based on Block Textural Properties

In order to achieve greater coding efficiency compared with the previous video coding standards, various advanced coding techniques are used in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, such as a flexible partition and a large number of intra prediction modes. However, these techniques lead to much greater complexity that restricts HEVC from realtime applications. To solve this problem, a fast intra mode decision algorithm is proposed in this paper that uses the block’s textural properties to determine the partition depth range and decide whether to split or skip smaller sizes of the coding unit. Besides that, the number of candidate modes for the rough mode decision process is also reduced depending on the block’s property. Experimental results for the recommended test sequences by the JCT-VC show that the proposed algorithm can save an average of 44% encoder time with a slight loss in performance compared to the reference software HM-16.20.